Each year, Operation Rescue dedicates a hefty amount of time and resources to investigating wrongdoing at abortion clinics, including patient deaths and injuries, negligence and abuse by abortionists, or failure to comply with state regulations by abortion clinics and staff.
“Many of these investigations begin with reports from dedicated sidewalk counselors,” says Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “At no charge to the local pro-life community, our small but effective team comes alongside these advocates to conduct a full investigation, tracking down public records, submitting complaints, handling crucial follow-up, and even bringing in legal help when needed.”
In 2025, Operation Rescue conducted 56 investigations across 15 states, filing dozens of Freedom of Information Act requests in the process and submitting over 20 complaints to licensing agencies and Boards of Medicine.
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Sarah Neely, Chief Operating Officer, comments, “Many of these investigations take months to carry out and require multiple complaints to be submitted. The process is slow, and there has to be dedicated follow-up with each state department to ensure state officials cannot simply ignore abortion injuries or repeat violations.
“Of the more than 20 complaints we submitted this year, 18 still remain open, slowly working their way through a tedious and often bureaucratic process. Not every pro-lifer on the sidewalk has the time, resources, or experience needed to push for action from state agencies when they witness wrongdoing. That’s where OR comes in. We’ve been conducting these investigations for decades and we know our methods work. We are always ready to help.”
In February, Operation Rescue broke the story of Lexi Arguello, an 18-year-old Colorado girl who died from abortion complications after delayed emergency transport from a Planned Parenthood in Fort Collins.
Operation Rescue was able to obtain crucial 911 records, along with public testimony at a Health and Human Services hearing, to reconstruct the timeline of that tragic day and confirm Lexi required emergency transport during a second trimester abortion.
“We also obtained Lexi’s autopsy,” says Newman, “a record that can often establish undeniable proof that abortion was the cause of death.”
However, Lexi’s autopsy was heavily redacted – more specifically, every part of the report that would have revealed anything about the abortion Lexi underwent, or the complications that followed, was redacted.
Newman adds, “Autopsies are a well-established, legally protected public record, made available in nearly all cases with no redactions. We have been working with a fantastic legal team to hold Colorado accountable for attempting to cover up the death of this young girl and her 22-week baby, and to gain access to the full, unredacted autopsy report. Fighting for the release of public information is part of the job. Americans being told that abortion is ‘safe’ deserve to know the truth about women being left to enter abortion clinics at their own risk – and about those who never make it back out.”
Colorado is one of the most pro-abortion states in the country, allowing abortion through all nine months and elevating abortion clinics above the law. Colorado abortion clinics are the only ambulatory centers in the state not required to be inspected or regulated.
Such privilege is producing an obvious effect: In addition to Lexi’s tragic death, Operation Rescue investigated 14 other Colorado emergencies in 2025.
Illinois is another state that no longer requires abortion clinics to be inspected or licensed by any state health agency. In 2025, Operation Rescue investigated 22 emergencies there, nearly all involving a woman with severe hemorrhaging, a perforated uterus, or both.
“Combined, radicalized Colorado and Illinois make up 67% of the investigations carried out by our team this year,” says Neely.
During an investigation in Illinois, Operation Rescue also uncovered a police report detailing a forced abortion that allegedly took place at American Women’s Services in Des Plaines in 2021. Despite the harrowing details offered by this traumatized woman, no records of any investigation or action beyond taking the woman’s statement could be found. Operation Rescue quickly submitted a complaint and the investigation remains open.
“The fact that neither the police department, the medical board, or any other agency in the state of Illinois seems to have taken one step towards investigating this woman’s horrific story is exactly why Operation Rescue exists,” says Newman. “Abortion is a bloody, brutal business, and our team works every day to uncover its abuses and ensure the abortionists who perpetrate those abuses are held accountable under the law.”
Operation Rescue encourages concerned citizens who witness ambulances or other emergency vehicles outside of their local abortion clinic to report those sightings to the OR team. Contact information and an online form can be easily found at www.operationrescue.org.
LifeNews Note: This article was originally published by Operation Rescue, a leading pro-life, Christian activist organization dedicated to exposing abortion abuses, demanding enforcement, saving innocent lives, and building an abortion-free America. The author, Sarah Neely, is Chief Operating Officer for Operation Rescue.
